she s single mom from idaho. she scored half the jackpot which is $190 million. holly was a no show at the news conference because she says she doesn t want the publicity. let s go over to the guys. that s indeed a long road. three former bell city council members accused of stealing millions from the taxpayers from the city want taxpayers to foot the bill for their legal fees to fight the corruption charges. their request comes from the city on the brink of bankruptcy. christina garcia is a spokesman for the bell association to stop the abuse. she joins us from l.a. good morning to you. good morning. i understand people came to you and said hey, how do we figure out how much our elected officials are making becaus we need some transparency, right? yeah, i mean, it s not just me. i think over the last handful of years, everybody has been trying to get informed and there s been lots of rumors speculating.
themselves those lavish salaries while cutting jobs and services and hiking taxes? the problem according to good government groups is in california cities like bell can set salaries in closed door meetings though the amounts have to be reported to state pension plans. our pension systems have known about this and are doing nothing to change it. reporter: now prosecutors are investigating as this city, appropriately named, is setting off alarm bells everywhere. nbc news, bell, california. at this hour the associated press is reporting the district attorney s office is investigating allegations of voter fraud in bell involving off-duty police officers reportedly going door to door with absentee ballots last year attempting to persuade voters. i m joined now by christina garcia who we met in the report. she is a member of the bell association to stop the abuse.
yr more from our pockets when you ve already taken more than you ever should have had. they should be in jumpsuits with l.a. county jail on the back of it. that s the best thing that can ever happen to me, that s on my bucket list. you guys do not deserve to be running the city and we want you to resign now! patti ann: so far, several council members have cut their salaries by 90 percent but for example, a bell city administrative officer made almost $800,000 a year. that s almost twice the salary of president obama. cristina garcia is founder of the bell association to stop abuse, also running for city council in bell gardens. thank you very much for joining us. thank you for having me. patti ann: beverly hills, where the average income is four times as high as bell residents has a property tax rate of 1.19 percent, bell residents say 1.55 percent of their home s value in taxes. what is going on? back in 2005, there was a
themselves those lavish salaries while cutting jobs and services and hiking taxes? the problem according to good government groups is in california cities like bell can set salaries in closed door meetings though the amounts have to be reported to state pension plans. our pension systems have known about this and are doing nothing to change it. reporter: now prosecutors are investigating as this city, appropriately named, is setting off alarm bells everywhere. george lewis, nbc news, bell, california. ethis hour the associated press is reporting the district attorney s office is investigating allegations of voter fraud in bell involving off-duty police officers reportedly going door to door with absentee ballots last year attempting to persuade voters. i m joined now by christina garcia who we met in the report. she is a member of the bell association to stop the abuse.
that s basically how we got to this point where the city manager could get twisz as much as the president of the united states. could there be a recall election then? reporter: there s a group called the bell association to stop the abuse. they formed to stop the scandal over the past week. there were hundreds of their membership at that meeting last night and they re planning a town hall on thursday and going to look at the possibility of that recall election and hoping to get it on the ballot in december. it looks like they ll clearly have the signatures but they are still calling for resignations. four of the five city council members agreed to 90% pay cuts so they ll only get a few hundred a month. that s not enough for these people. they want the resignations and that recall election could be on the bat lot as early as december. i think there s a lot of people that want to hear from that police chief and rizzo, both m.i.a. since the scandal